Automated Fixtures looking for cheap good moving head light for me and school use

[gregeye]

hello all,

I am looking to purchase a cheap yet powerful and professional moving head fixture for my own use and also for my high schools theater. Is there any sugestions? I have looked at the chauvet intimidator 250 spot for 665 but feel like its more for dj use. And martin seems to be the way to go, but they are expensive.


Thanks

Greg​

 

[chausman]

I have heard fairly good things about the Elation brand but they are also expensive. And might suggest you also look at the Gafftaper Method. Or you may want to look at the Musicians Friend Website. The less "DJish" stuff starts at about page three. Good luck!

 

[Les]

I am looking to purchase a cheap... and professional moving head fixture ...

Uh oh... Pick one, but ya can't have both

Really, anything new that costs less than a used Martin Mac 250 (<$1,000-$1,500) is going to put you in the DJ market. Many of the instruments by American DJ and Chauvet are priced right, but will have reliability issues. At the very least, you would want to look at the Elation Design Spot series, maybe the used markets. I fear that will still cost you about $2000 per fixture.

Also, having one moving head fixture is kind of like having one oar in a rowboat. You can use it, but it won't be very effective.

Now, are you wanting your school to buy these, or are you going to buy them and use them at the school? I would personally caution against spending a lot of money on something and then taking it to school. Lots of liability issues, as well as personal risk to your assets. Not to say I didn't do it when I was in high school, but if I had to do it all over... (By the way, I almost lost all my gear during a change in administration because it was in a technical storage area. I had to backtrack and have all my suppliers provide receipts). The previous theatre director was a good friend who sadly died while he was letting me store my equipment there. On top of the grief, I had to deal with the legal aspect of getting my stuff back. I just wouldn't do it again. I would also avoid spending several thousand on a moving head. If you want to learn them, see about having your school rent some. You will get more for their money, and you will get to work with better gear than you can personally afford. My new personal quest is to not buy anything technical that can't pay for itself within a year.

Also, keep in mind that most moving heads use a $250 lamp and if there's a problem with the unit, a service call can easily cost another $1,000.

Just a few thoughts. I don't mean to be a naysayer, I just want to point out some things that have lost me tons of money over the years.

 

[techno89]

People are going to go to town suggesting the gafftaper method to you, which you might be better off using in the end but I will try to suggest a light to you.

You might want to look at CHAUVET LIGHTING INTIMIDATOR 250 This 250 Wat | IDJNOW.COM

and if you want to go really crappy: 108: DMX Moving Heads, Stage Lighting
The 108-HUMMER

Point is you won't get a great light for a cheap price


you MIGHT however get lucky on www.usedlighting.com

Just a quick search found:

http://www.usedlighting.com/10162/highend-studio-spot-575
http://www.usedlighting.com/9427/martin-mini-mac-profiles

 

[gregeye]

Uh oh... Pick one, but ya can't have both

Really, anything new that costs less than a used Martin Mac 250 (<$1,000-$1,500) is going to put you in the DJ market. Many of the instruments by American DJ and Chauvet are priced right, but will have reliability issues. At the very least, you would want to look at the Elation Design Spot series, maybe the used markets. I fear that will still cost you about $2000 per fixture.

Also, having one moving head fixture is kind of like having one oar in a rowboat. You can use it, but it won't be very effective.

Now, are you wanting your school to buy these, or are you going to buy them and use them at the school? I would personally caution against spending a lot of money on something and then taking it to school. Lots of liability issues, as well as personal risk to your assets. Not to say I didn't do it when I was in high school, but if I had to do it all over... (By the way, I almost lost all my gear during a change in administration because it was in a technical storage area. I had to backtrack and have all my suppliers provide receipts). The previous theatre director was a good friend who sadly died while he was letting me store my equipment there. On top of the grief, I had to deal with the legal aspect of getting my stuff back. I just wouldn't do it again. I would also avoid spending several thousand on a moving head. If you want to learn them, see about having your school rent some. You will get more for their money, and you will get to work with better gear than you can personally afford. My new personal quest is to not buy anything technical that can't pay for itself within a year.

Also, keep in mind that most moving heads use a $250 lamp and if there's a problem with the unit, a service call can easily cost another $1,000.

Just a few thoughts. I don't mean to be a naysayer, I just want to point out some things that have lost me tons of money over the years.

First of all, im sry to hear about the loss. This post really helped me understand more about how the school should do more of the research than me. And yes, I was looking to buy it myself for my personal use and also at school. I don't know very much about moving head lights and since I'm going to college for lighting design I wanted to experiment with them.

thanks again

 

[gregeye]

People are going to go to town suggesting the gafftaper method to you, which you might be better off using in the end but I will try to suggest a light to you.

You might want to look at CHAUVET LIGHTING INTIMIDATOR 250 This 250 Wat | IDJNOW.COM

and if you want to go really crappy: 108: DMX Moving Heads, Stage Lighting
The 108-HUMMER

Point is you won't get a great light for a cheap price


you MIGHT however get lucky on www.usedlighting.com

Just a quick search found:

HighEnd Studio Spot 575 | Used Lighting - Used Stage & Theatrical Lighting Equipment, LED, Trussing
Martin Mini Mac Profiles | Used Lighting - Used Stage & Theatrical Lighting Equipment, LED, Trussing

yeah I did some research on this site and found several things. Martin Mac 500 Profile | Used Lighting - Used Stage & Theatrical Lighting Equipment, LED, Trussing I've heard good things about it but don't knoiw if this is worth the money. It seems pretty cheap for a martin.

 

[gregeye]

I am also looking at gearsource.com and found several more good lights.

Gearsource - Used and New Martin MAC250 Wash

Gearsource - Used and New Martin smartMAC

Gearsource - Used and New Martin MAC250 Krypton

let me know if any are good. But I am still in the price range of under a grand unfortunatly.

The only good light that falls in that range is the Chauvet intimidator spot 250. I found it here for a cheap price. TechCrazy|Buy Consumer Electronics, DJ Lighting, Chauvet, American DJ

Let me know of your thoughts and if its still a good theater light for its price.

thanks

 

[Les]

Thank you for your condolences.

Now, if your main focus is educating yourself, you could pick up a pair of Chauvet mInspots. Gafftaper (founder of the Gafftaper Method) picked some up for teaching students the basics of moving heads, and the last I heard, he was happy with them. Being LEDs, they won't get you far in actual theatrical usage, but they would be a good tool for learning to program on. They're also fun for around the house .

 

[gregeye]

I have been looking at some lights on ebay...i know its not the best place but I am looking ath the ones for buy it know or best offer.

Brand New Wash Moving Head Light W/Flight Case DJ Light - eBay (item 290421041928 end time Dec-28-10 13:42:42 PST)

found this one

Cheaper lights because there in china but then shipping of course. Anythig to say about lights off of ebay?

 

[sk8rsdad]

Doesn't it bother you that the only thing the buyer says about them is that they are new? Who's the manufacturer. What features does it have? Is it UL approved so you can use it at school? Is it even 120V or does it require a distro? There nothing in the info provided by the seller. For me that is a big red flag.

 

[icewolf08]

I think the best advice is to save your money. Do you even own your own controller? If you don't then there is really no purpose in owning a fixture yourself. Your best course of action is to convince your school/theatre program to rent moving lights for one of your shows (probably a musical) and then learn to use them for that. Unless you are a DJ or plan on opening your own rental shop it seems like not the best use of money. If you own a fixture and bring it to the school you will get taken advantage of because you will be responsible for the maintenance of the fixture.

Save your money and go to college at a school with a good theatre program if that is what you are interested in. You will be thankful that you saved that $$ when you go into the life of the starving college student!

 

[metti]

I would like to generally echo what Les said. I have found, from personal experience, that owning expensive gear is generally a bad idea unless you have an actual business model to get some ROI out of it. At the moment, as a student, I have a relatively expensive inventory of lighting and sound equipment for theatre. My gear actually pays for itself since I rent it out but I also spend a lot of time maintaining it and dealing with renting it out. I plan to sell it all off over the course of the next couple years and just keep what I consider small personal items (headphones and a few mics for sound and a DMX dongle and tools for lighting).

I have a Chamsys MQ100Pro and I am going to have some Clay Paky movers at several points during the coming months so if you are just interested in playing around with some moving lights and you have access to a car, you can drive up to Boston and I can give you a chance to try programming some stuff with my gear. PM me if you're interested.

 

[DuckJordan]

as someone who is in college right now in the first year. I can tell you right now there is a large push to more updated fixtures in the university realm. Our theater in less than two years is going to be the proud owner of about 20 LED units as well as another 10 movers. This isn't a large school, nor is it funded very well. Its just professors are starting to see that students who go to the school for that type of education just aren't getting enough hands on experience. The only two movers they've had for the last few years were two martin mac 550's, we all know them inside and out and know how to diagnose problems with them while they are in the air.

This would be one of those save your money posts, I thought buying a bunch of gear to learn before college was a good idea. Trust me you'll learn more than you want to know at college.

 

[gregeye]

People are going to go to town suggesting the gafftaper method to you, which you might be better off using in the end but I will try to suggest a light to you.

You might want to look at CHAUVET LIGHTING INTIMIDATOR 250 This 250 Wat | IDJNOW.COM

and if you want to go really crappy: 108: DMX Moving Heads, Stage Lighting
The 108-HUMMER

Point is you won't get a great light for a cheap price


you MIGHT however get lucky on www.usedlighting.com

Just a quick search found:

HighEnd Studio Spot 575 | Used Lighting - Used Stage & Theatrical Lighting Equipment, LED, Trussing
Martin Mini Mac Profiles | Used Lighting - Used Stage & Theatrical Lighting Equipment, LED, Trussing

yea ive looked into the intimidator spot 250 but feel like its not a good theater light. i found it cheap for like 665 but dont know if its worht the investment.

 

[Les]

I left out the saving your money lecture because I felt like I had ragged on the OP enough [ ], but holding on to your cash would definitely be the way to go. It might be hard to see now, but in a few years, you will look at that moving light as just another thing to haul around and think "ugh, the money I spent on that coulda paid my rent for two months!" There is also the fact that it will eventually wear out (depreciate like a car, in fact) and then where would you be? I say, take your extra money and put it in to a savings account. I know it's hard (I'm working on it right now) but just think: by the time you graduate, you could have a nice down payment on a car. Right now, I'm saving for a down payment on a house. How am I getting some of that money? By selling some of the crap I shouldn't have bought in the first place. And trust me, you won't get half of what you paid for it in this market!

I still keep a few small par cans, inkies, birdies and micro ellipses for events that I do such as weddings and small shows, but all the flashy 'DJ' stuff had to go! I had fun with it and made a little money, but it was more of a money pit than anything else.

 

[gregeye]

I left out the saving your money lecture because I felt like I had ragged on the OP enough [ ], but holding on to your cash would definitely be the way to go. It might be hard to see now, but in a few years, you will look at that moving light as just another thing to haul around and think "ugh, the money I spent on that coulda paid my rent for two months!" There is also the fact that it will eventually wear out (depreciate like a car, in fact) and then where would you be? I say, take your extra money and put it in to a savings account. I know it's hard (I'm working on it right now) but just think: by the time you graduate, you could have a nice down payment on a car. Right now, I'm saving for a down payment on a house. How am I getting some of that money? By selling some of the crap I shouldn't have bought in the first place. And trust me, you won't get half of what you paid for it in this market!

I still keep a few small par cans, inkies, birdies and micro ellipses for events that I do such as weddings and small shows, but all the flashy 'DJ' stuff had to go! I had fun with it and made a little money, but it was more of a money pit than anything else.

Well thanks again for your tips. I will save my money. Thankfully I have already saved and bought my own car, and so now I'm starting the process over again.

Thanks

 

[gregeye]

i found another site Used Stage Lighting Gear - Creative Stage Lighting Co., Inc.

let me know your thoughts

 

[gregeye]

HELLO AGAIN,

if anyone knows where or who I can purchase a good cheap automated light for our theater let me know our budget is around 1200-1400. Thanks. We are looking to buy one for now to learn before we hand out our money.

 

[metti]

HELLO AGAIN,

if anyone knows where or who I can purchase a good cheap automated light for our theater let me know our budget is around 1200-1400. Thanks. We are looking to buy one for now to learn before we hand out our money.

I know others have said stuff to this effect but I will reiterate: There is no such thing as a good AND cheap moving light (or any other kind of light for that matter). Also, there really aren't that many actually practical uses for a single moving light. But, if you are completely set on purchasing a moving light and that is your budget, used is the only way to go unless you are willing to get a Right Arm + Scroller. You could definitely get something like a Mac250 (original or +) or HES Studio Spot 250. You could probably even get a Studio Color 575 or Mac600 which might actually be useful for something since they are bright enough to not get immediately overwhelmed by stage lights and they have CMY mixing. If you are really lucky you could probably get a Studio Spot 575 on the higher end of your budget. I would check Gear Source, I have seen these sorts of units within your budget recently there. Make sure you budget $200-300 to replace the lamp, which you will probably need to do shortly since you're looking at pretty old luminaires. If your school really is interested in you guys learning, it would make MUCH more sense to rent a couple of Mac 700s or something similarly useful for a show instead of blowing a large amount of money on buying outdated gear.

 

[soundlight]

If your school really is interested in you guys learning, it would make MUCH more sense to rent a couple of Mac 700s or something similarly useful for a show instead of blowing a large amount of money on buying outdated gear.

THIS.

You can rent something like a MAC700 for about 220 a week in many areas, more in some areas and less in others (depends on the rental market), and that would be a very good use of your money. You might even be able to get a discount if you talk to the right person in a company and explain that you want some fixtures to learn on. They'll often cut you a deal on some of their fixtures that don't go out very often. You might even be able to go in to the rental place and have them show you how to get around on a Hog 1000 or something similar with a couple of movers one afternoon if you're lucky.